These photographs are of Test Pilots,Engineers,and various research and production aircraft flown on test flights mostly from the late 1940's through to the present day.
Most of these have been kindly signed by those depicted

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

'J.W Charles 'Pee-wee' Judge 1922-1970

'Pee-wee' Judge started his aviation career with the Royal Air Force, flying Hurricanes and Spitfires of No 33 Squadron in the Middle East, with Fighter Command and with the 2nd T.A.F. in Europe. Later transferring to Typhoons of 245 Squadron again with the 2nd T.A.F.After the end of the war 'Pee-Wee' continued his service as a Ferry pilot and finally as a test pilot in India.On leaving the Service he was for a time a free lance Ferry pilot delivering aircraft to the Middle East, Pakistan and India until joining the Supermarine division of Vickers Armstrongs Ltd. as a test pilot in 1950 to fly Spitfire, Seafire, Attacker, Swift and Scimitar aircraft.Then followed a period with Rolls-Royce Ltd.,to which Company he was attached as a test pilot for one year on the Tyne-Ambassador and Conway-Vulcan programmes before joining Beagle as test pilot at Shoreham in 1961. His appointment as Chief Test Pilot of the Beagle Groupwas made in 1962.During his eight years of strenuous work at Shoreham and Rearsby he made the first flights of 12 different types of Beagle light aircraft—from the B.206-Y prototype on August 12, 1962, to the Bulldog prototype on May 19, 1969.He had joined Airmark in 1970 to continue development flying of the Wallis WA.117 when he was killed in a flying accident at the SBAC show at Farnborough in 1970.

He held the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air and had amassed 6,850hr of flying, which were spread over a wide pattern of aircraft types.